


We'll do it any way!

by StrifeMillions



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-02-20 06:38:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13141140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrifeMillions/pseuds/StrifeMillions
Summary: Shouyou Hinata and Tobio Kageyama. The dynamic duo's partnership started off rocky, but they had a goal. To win.Together, they would conquer the high school nationals. Then the collegiate nationals. Then, they would take over the national professional league. While they were at it, they'd also throw in a world championship or two for good measure.Nobody ever said it was going to be easy.This is mostly their story, but everyone around them is drawn to them, so it becomes their story too. Kinda...





	1. Chapter 1

-Training camp-

"It feels like the coach really doesn't like Chibi-chan for some reason. Any idea why, Wakatoshi-kun?", asked Satori Tendo of his volleyball club captain, Wakatoshi Ushijima.

Ushijima looked puzzled. "Chibi-chan?", he asked doubtfully.

"Karasuno's ace-like tiny middle blocker decoy player. The orangehead."

Tendo pointed at the boy to whom he referred. At the same time, he began contemplating how difficult it was to describe Karasuno's number ten. "Karasuno's orangehead" was probably the easiest way to describe him. If all else fails, use unique visual cues.

'Chibi-chan' was seemingly occupied with using his position as a ball boy at the first years training camp to improve his receiving skills. The boy always seemed to find some way to derive meaningful gain from any situation he was faced with.

Ushijima let out a thoughtful "Hmm" as he considered the orangehead in question.

Shouyou Hinata, Karasuno's tiny number ten. One half of the 'Freak Quick Duo', with his partner, the genius setter, Tobio Kageyama. He was the heart of the relentless attack that had broken the three year long hegemony of the Shiratorizawa Academy volleyball team over the Miyagi prefecture. He was the boy who had challenged Ushijima. And he had won, fair and square. He had succeeded where Tooru Oikawa and Hajime Iwaizumi had failed, repeatedly, over six long years of tournaments starting all the way back from junior high.

"I believe the coach sees himself in Shouyou Hinata. It is a fact that if you are short, you have to work much harder to be good at volleyball. Unless you are the libero, maybe. The coach knows this and maybe wants to see how far he is willing to go, and let him know at the outset just how thorny his path is. I do not believe Washio-sensei has any malicious intent, and I certainly do not believe that he does not acknowledge Shouyou Hinata's obvious potential. Everyone saw how he many points he scored for his team, and how reliant they were on him. And our coach is too good of one not to see it."

"Potential, hmm...Yes. I can see it. So, how far do you think he will go, Wakatoshi-kun?", asked Satori, looking thoughtful.

"It is difficult to say. But if I were to provide an overall assessment of his ability, I would say that he is a mediocre player. His basics are below average, and his movements are clumsy. His strength lies in the way he uses his physical attributes to be an unpredictable, almost genius-level play-maker."

"A genius play-maker, huh? Care to elaborate?"

Wakatoshi nodded. "He knows his current limitations and works off his strengths. He also possesses the ability to think of plays that most people would not consider and is confident enough to carry them out with absolutely no fear of failing. Additionally, I can sense that he has a heightened awareness of the court, and observes what goes on inside it closely. At this point, he may not have the game sense or intuition to make full use of that ability, but that just shows how much better he can become. He is curiously unafraid to try his hand at techniques he has seen only once or twice. And if he does fail at executing, he has this irritating habit of picking himself right back up. On his own, he cannot win, however. His potential would not have been brought out by his team's other setter, that silver-haired thinker who relies on understanding and deliberation rather than raw ability and instinct. That is why Karasuno's team has been fortunate enough to count Tobio Kageyama among its ranks. And in a way, he is lucky in turn, to have found somebody like Shouyou Hinata. Tobio Kageyama is undoubtedly some sort of volleyball monster. Every aspect of his play is well developed, and he is most definitely good enough to be on the national team, like I was. But, he is always itching to make plays. He is not satisfied with just relying on doing the same old thing over and over, even if it works well. He seems to have an insatiable thirst for evolution. Maybe, he is looking to eventually create a combination that cannot be blocked or some such thing. However, as a setter, you cannot make plays on your own most of the time. Your spikers are needed to complete them. This was what he lacked at Kitagawa Daiichi. He needed someone to follow him and trust him implicitly, and to be able to see what he sees on the court, and even challenge him to do new things. It is also something he would have probably lacked at Aoba Johsai and here, with us, at Shiratorizawa, come to think of it. Shouyou Hinata brings out Tobio Kageyama's prodigious talent and helps him discover new facets of it, and Tobio Kageyama pushes Shouyou Hinata to rapidly improve himself so that he can keep up with him. And maybe one day, they will each reach their full potential. Their coordination is exceptional. To their opponents, it is annoyingly unnatural. Individually, they are formidable in different ways, one for his pure talent, and the other for his freakish physical ability. In a combination, you generally expect it to be more than a sum of its parts. But, the power level of their duo is a multiplicative function of their individual strengths. They will always score points, and their team relies on using them together. They lift their team up and force them to evolve as well."

Satori looked at his friend curiously. It was very rare to hear Wakatoshi talk this much of his own volition. He commented as much.

"The orangehead really is something else. I've never heard you wax that lyrical before! Come to think of it, I've never seen you attach that much emotion to another person ever. You even said you disliked the guy during our finals match, and you mocked him before the fourth set."

Wakatoshi glanced at Satori, puzzled. "Dislike? Hmm...No, I do not dislike him, exactly. At the start, maybe. I might have found him annoying before, but I think that was more because it was irksome to me that someone that naturally gifted was so bad at doing the most basic things in volleyball. Like serving the ball on the other side of the court consistently and doing a simple receive with his hands instead of his face. I found myself thinking what he was doing up until this point. If he had been...somebody...If he had done something to show himself before now, maybe he could have caught our eye and we could have had him on our team. I did not intend to...mock him. When I saw him walk past, I could not help myself, for some reason. It was like he was asking me to tell him something. So I did. Later, I learned from his captain that this is the first time he's been part of a team. He didn't have the opportunities to shine before, but once he did, he made sure to take it. A player who scores that many points for his team, and is depended on so heavily every time they need to make something happen...you can't be considered bad after all that. Also, you'll recall that you were the one who asked me to elaborate. I simply elaborated."

Satori gave a long-suffering sigh. "And here I thought you wanted to be his friend."

The Shiratorizawa ace frowned at that. "His friend? Hmm. It is true that I challenged him after our loss. But, I believe rivals can still be friends, correct? I do not believe he still bears a grudge for how I...mocked him, as you put it. But, I could always apologize and clear the air, could I not?"

The look he directed at Satori seemed almost hopeful. The redhead was at a loss for words. These questions and reactions were very uncharacteristic of Wakatoshi. He shook his head to snap out of it and scratched his head. Wakatoshi was being serious.

"I think so, yes."

Wakatoshi nodded, apparently satisfied. If Satori believed it was okay, then there was a good chance it would be.

"All right. I will try to become his friend", he declared, resolutely.

Satori slapped his face once, then twice. It hurt. All this...it was REAL! Now, there were even red marks imprinted on his face to prove it.

Wakatoshi turned to him, concerned. "Did you just slap yourself?", he enquired, frowning slightly.

"Yes. I was making sure I was really awake."

"Ah, I see. Any specific reason you believed otherwise?"

"Don't worry about it. I was just surprised. This is the first time I've heard you say you want to be someone's friend."

Wakatoshi's frown deepened. "Is it irregular?"

Satori waved his hands. "No, it definitely isn't. It's just...out of character for you, maybe?"

"Oh. But, I have made friends with all the volleyball team, have I not? It is not like I'm actively trying not to be friendly, correct?"

"We hang around you all the time, so I suppose it is easier for you to be friends with us. But, you don't normally try to make friends with people from other teams."

Wakatoshi thought for a while. He considered how Oikawa always glared at him with what seemed like anger whenever they interacted, how Iwaizumi always seemed guarded towards him for some reason, and how both Kageyama and Hinata seemed intimidated by him (though that did not stop them from challenging him).

"I see where you may be coming from", he conceded.

"In any case, don't worry about it. Looks like their morning practice is over. And the shrimp seems to have spotted us. He is coming towards us as we speak."

"Oh", was all Wakatoshi said, as he spotted Shouyou as well.

As Satori had observed, Shouyou was obviously walking up to them. He had an intent, determined sort of look on his face. Once he was close enough, he bowed deeply to each of them in turn, addressing them, "Ushiwaka-san! Spiky Red Hair-san!"

Wakatoshi looked at him impassively. Somehow, even that neutral expression managed to intimidate his younger rival, as he gulped visibly and loudly.

"Choose one", he replied, at length.

Shouyou looked at him, confused. "Choose one?", he enquired, doubtfully.

"Ushijima or Wakatoshi. Choose one. Ushiwaka sounds very strange to me as a form of address, Shouyou Hinata. It always irked me to be called that, to be honest."

"Eh...I can use your first name?" Shouyou looked surprised.

Wakatoshi shrugged. "I have no concern either way."

"Oh. All right, then! Wakatoshi-san...and you can call me Shouyou too."

"Shouyou. All right. I will address you as such."

Shouyou smiled at him, and then turned to Satori, who was looking on at this scene, surprise clear in his face.

He noticed Shouyou looking at him, gathered his thoughts quickly and replied to his initial address saying, "And don't use weird nicknames for me. It's Satori. Satori Tendo."

"Satori Tendo-san. Sorry about that!", replied Shouyou, bowing deeply again.

Satori waved his arms around, saying, "You don't need to worry about it so much. And no need to bow so formally. Just calling me Satori is fine. We're all friends here, aren't we, Shou-chan?"

Shouyou's eyebrows quirked up in surprise. "We are? And Shou-chan?", he asked, uncertain.

"Of course", said Satori, smiling brightly. "Even Wakatoshi-kun here."

Shouyou looked enquiringly at Wakatoshi. Wakatoshi simply nodded and said, "Yes. Yes, we are."

Hearing that, Shouyou's face broke into a joyful smile, as he pumped his fists, exclaiming "Yaay!"

"Well...it's time for lunch, Shou-kun. Do you want to join us? It'll be Wakatoshi's treat!", said Satori, smirking slyly at his teammate.

"Uwah! Really?", asked Shouyou, eyes sparkling at Wakatoshi.

Wakatoshi frowned at Satori for a moment before clearing his throat and saying, "I do not mind commemorating our friendship with a meal."

"Cool! I also kinda wanted to ask advice from you two on volleyball, if that's okay. You two are like 'gwah!' and 'boom!', then you 'swoosh!' so easily. I want to be able to do that too", he said, excitedly waving his arms about and littering his performance with barely intelligible sound effects.

Satori chuckled and ruffled Shouyou's hair, saying, "All right, all right. Come on now, Shrimpy-kun."

He found Shouyou's orange mop of hair soft and fluffy, and felt it quite enjoyable to ruffle it. So, he did it again.

Shouyou bristled slightly, "I'm not Shrimpy!", he protested, apparently not minding having his hair ruffled. Satori simply laughed.

They followed Wakatoshi out the volleyball gymnasium.

-0-

"So, where are we headed?", asked Shouyou, bouncing around. They were a few blocks away from the academy.

"Do you ever run out of energy?", asked Satori, following his incessant movements with interest.

"I do not think so", put in Wakatoshi, also following the orange-haired boy's antics with a similar amount of interest.

The object of their discussion puffed out his cheeks. Satori absent-mindedly pinched it, and it deflated with a pop. He chuckled at Shouyou's chagrined expression, waving his hands peaceably.

"I'm just excited, that's all! It isn't everyday I get to share a meal with such legendary players!"

Satori laughed out loud. "Wakatoshi-kun, sure. I can understand that. In Japanese high school volleyball, he is a big deal. But, I don't think I'm all that legendary."

"Eh. But you are pretty well regarded too. Kouta-san spoke quite highly of you!"

"Kouta-san?", asked Satori, brow furrowed.

"Yeah! He's the Fukurodani ace, and he's among the top five aces across the nation with Wakatoshi-san! He's so cool!"

"Kouta...Kouta...Wait, you don't mean Koutarou Bokuto, do you? Silver hair, hairstyle kinda like mine, spiked up? From Tokyo's Fukurodani Academy?", asked Satori, incredulously.

Shouyou nodded happily. "Yep! That's him! Kouta-san took me under his wing during our training camp and taught me how to think before you spike. He's the big ace leading his team to the nationals." Then, he paused, before adding, "But, I'm not gonna lose to him either!", as an afterthought.

"You trained with Fukurodani Academy of Tokyo? They are quite impressive. We lost to them in the inter-high quarterfinals last time around!", stated Wakatoshi, looking at Shouyou curiously.

"Wow! So Kouta-san did not go into his dejected mode that match at all, I guess? If he had, it would have been difficult for them to beat you guys", said Shouyou, whistling.

"Dejected mode...what's tha...Oh wait, I think I know what you mean! He did, actually. We lost the first set after a deuce. In the second set, he missed two spikes and a serve and suddenly, their team stopped using him for a while. We won that set, though it was quite close. Eventually, he recovered in time for the deciding set and played his heart out...scored like five points in a row on his serve, then spiked two crazily well-angled crosses in a row to win his team the match... He's the only other spiker I've played against apart from Wakatoshi-kun who has been able to make my palm sting that much", said Satori, chuckling at the memory.

"Yeah, he is awesome! But all the academies in that group are so cool! Shinzen High with their 'gwah!' team plays and Ubugawa High with their serves that go 'Boom!'. Even our old rivals, Nekoma High, with their persistence in receiving and connecting and wearing out their opponents! We learned a whole lot at the training camp. It's probably how we improved so much this time around."

Wakatoshi nodded. "Nekoma...Yes, I have heard of the historical rivalry between your school and them. But, I'd also heard that you lost contact sometime after the older coach Ukai retired. Karasuno seems to be remaking important old connections. I get the feeling it will be a powerhouse again next year."

"Powerhouse?", asked Shouyou, eyes wide.

"Yes, like Aoba Johsai, or Date Tech, or Shiratorizawa in our prefecture. In Tokyo, it would be the likes of Itachiyama, Fukurodani, Nohebi, Nekoma. Storied teams which attract the best talents from junior high and compete at the highest levels of the inter-high tournaments."

"Uwah! That would be so cool...But, if we attract a bunch of new amazing talent, it'll make our year look weaker...And maybe there will be a new ace and I won't be able to transition into it..." Shouyou suddenly seemed down.

"Ace? Aren't you already the ace, though?", asked Wakatoshi, sounding genuinely puzzled.

"Eh! I play in the middle! How can I be the ace?", asked Shouyou, waving his arms about.

"It is true that we generally anoint the players who spike from the wings 'ace', but it isn't position-specific. It's more of a title. It is the 'X-factor' that allows your team to tear down the walls and lift everyone up. The player who gets entrusted with scoring the most crucial points in a match is actually the ace. If I were to point out Karasuno's ace, it would be you. That monster setter of yours tosses the ball to you the most. Every time he is in a pinch, he mostly to rely on you to get the point, unless he dumps the ball. That bond of trust is so implicit, it's scary. And for your opponents, irritatingly justified. Take it from me, anyone at our level will find it hard to block against the plays you two come up with", said Satori.

"Yes. Do you remember back to our match at the finals? I was the highest overall scorer with fifty-one points. Do you know who the second highest was?", asked Wakatoshi.

"Umm...Maybe Asahi-san, or Ryu-senpai? Or one of your players - Tsutomu-kun or maybe even Satori-san?", replied Hinata.

"Asahi-san? Was he the baldy?", asked Satori.

"No, the baldy is Ryu-senpai."

"Ah. Well, for your information, the baldy...your 'Ryu-senpai' scored seventeen points, and the other big wing spiker, 'Asahi-san' presumably, the one who looked like a samurai from some manga - he scored twenty one. Tsutomu scored fourteen, and I scored twenty four. You, on the other hand, scored thirty seven, and that just happened to be the second highest in the match, and therefore, is the answer to Wakatoshi-kun's question", said Satori.

"How do you know all that?", asked Shouyou, surprised.

Satori shrugged. "We analyze a lot of stuff during our meetings. Our academy's team doesn't end with us leaving. Shiratorizawa has to put out a good team again next year to challenge you guys. And everyone else in the prefecture - Date Tech, Seijoh. Even the wildcard ones like the school with the 2-metre tall dude, the party team, and that ultra-defensive team with Ken-chan's junior high classmate."

"Thirty seven...That's almost as much as Asahi-san and Ryu-senpai combined", said Shouyou, counting on his fingers.

Wakatoshi nodded. "That's right. Also, I believe that Karasuno's current first-year talents are the best they've had in many years. It has revived them. That tall middle blocker with the glasses, your genius setter, and you, the demon shrimp. Your offence has gone up several levels in strength, and your blocking plays are also shaping up well. Even that jump float pinch server is scary, considering how much more he could improve on it. It is like our crop in my year, with Eita, Satori and Leon. Or to an extent, Seijoh's crop in Oikawa's year, though I only rate Iwaizumi apart from him. Even Date Tech's crop from the year after us, the ones who resurrected the famed 'Iron Wall', are impressive...All that aside, in Karasuno's case, what is most striking is the fact that you rose out of the 'concrete', as you like to say. Your club had no connections and seemingly no prospects at the beginning of the year. Nobody even gave them a chance at the start, and even before the previous tournament, they were only known for the freak quick. Yet, you upset everyone on the way and rose high enough to stand at the national stage. I frankly do not think Karasuno will have a better crop next year. They will be lucky if they get even two players who can match the ability or playmaking skill of this year's starters."

"It is also scary to contemplate how you will all evolve over the next two years. In our team, we have only Tsutomu who stands out among the current first years. In yours, half the starters are in their first year. If you and your setter don't get to the semifinals at the nationals at least once in your three years like we were able to, I'd honestly say that you would have really underperformed", added Satori.

Shouyou was silent for a while. He knew that Wakatoshi Ushijima never said anything unless he truly meant it.

"I...want to win. But, before I can think about winning Nationals, I need to improve so many things in my game. I can't let myself slow down ever...so I want to know. What goes through your mind when you need to make a receive, Wakatoshi-san?", he asked, suddenly pointing at Wakatoshi.

Wakatoshi's eyebrows went up in surprise, then furrowed in thought. "When I receive, I concentrate on the ball's trajectory till the last moment, and try to position my hands to smother it, and make it go up, like so", demonstrating with his hands fisted side-by-side.

"Get it up, huh", said Shouyou, thoughtfully.

"That sort of receive provides the longest amount of reaction time for the rest of your team to make a play. In my case, I also need to get ready for a spike oftentimes. The higher you can get the ball to go, the longer your team has. It allows the opposition time to regroup, of course, but it is a double edged sword. It means that they have to concentrate on the ball and look out for it longer as well. That can be mentally tiring, especially if the spiker has good form, or if your own team has a large number of offensive tools to look out for."

"I see!", said Shouyou. He suddenly clapped his hands and his face lit up. At his companion's questioning looks, he said, "My receives suck now, like you said to me during our match in the finals...BUT, if I work at it and I can get them to a point where I can make plays like Noya-senpai, it'll be like our team has a second libero and we won't feel Captain's absence so much next year. We're both short, but we're also very quick and rely a whole lot on our reflexes. I have to work at it!"

"It is an idea with merit", agreed Wakatoshi, thoughtfully. "I must admit that I had initially thought you to be a defence specialist who was only used in attack as a part of the freak quick duo in your team. I was somewhat surprised that you were a middle blocker, and even more so at the weakness of your basics. But, volleyball is a sport where you have to keep evolving. You will have to plan and plug the gaps in your skills, and add to your team's overall strength. With training, I can certainly see you matching the level of the Karasuno libero with your reflexes and speed."

-0-

"This ramen place looks fancy!", said Shouyou, worried. They had come to a place about ten blocks away from the academy.

"I don't think I'll have enough cash to cover it", he added. The boy looked close to tears.

"Don't worry, Shou-chan. Like I said before, Wakatoshi-kun is treating!", said Satori, doing his best impression of a talk show host presenting Wakatoshi with a flourish.

"Really? I thought that was a joke!", said Shouyou.

Wakatoshi cleared his throat. "My family owns this chain, so it's all right", he stated.

"What!? That's so cool!", said Shouyou, staring wide-eyed at him.

"You can ask him for his discount code later", whispered Satori conspiratorially to Shouyou.

"A discount code?"

"Yeah. Perks of knowing the Ushijima heir." Satori winked slyly.

They made their way inside and sure enough, Wakatoshi was able to wrangle a private booth for them.

Once they'd made their initial orders, Wakatoshi cleared his throat after sending a momentary glare Satori's way.

"By the way, Satori was right before. I can give you a card that identifies you as a friend, and you can get a substantial discount should you ever visit one of our restaurants", he informed Shouyou.

He fished out a card from his wallet and held it out.

Shouyou accepted it gratefully and said, "Uwaa! Thank you so much, Wakatoshi-san! I don't know how to repay you for this!"

He looked at the older boy with sparkling eyes. Wakatoshi was once again surprised at how easily the smaller boy got excited, and how infectious his excitement was.

"Umm...Actually, you mentioned before that you lived in the township near Tohoku University?"

At Shouyou's nodding, he went on, "Well...I'm planning to attend... That is, Satori and I...we're both planning to attend Tohoku University after high school."

Shouyou looked at Wakatoshi, mouth agape in amazement.

"Whoa! But, aren't you one of the top players in the nation? I thought Tokyo's universities were way stronger than the ones in Miyagi."

"Yes, that is true. Tohoku Uni's team is among the top three universities in Miyagi, but they've never made it past the top sixteen in the last ten years of the college nationals. But, they have a relatively young new coach who's promising a new philosophy. Sano-sensei won bronze medals for Japan at the Olympics and the World Championships, and was even best libero one year at the Club World Championship. They're attempting to recruit a lot of top players from our year to build a team from the ground up. They even set up a very generous scholarship to award top students and support the initiative. And, they have good connections to pro teams, because of Sano-sensei. The offer was intriguing enough that I decided to take it up over Keio Uni or Waseda Uni, who also offered me scholarships", explained Wakatoshi.

"And I decided to continue playing, since I was going to Tohoku Uni anyway, and they offered me the scholarship too. Plus, I hear Seijoh's setter-ace duo may also be joining", put in Satori.

Shouyou nodded at all this, then scrunched up his face in thought. "Sano...Sano...Wait, you don't mean Erika Sano-san from the women's team, do you? She's the only one who matches your description from the recent past!"

Wakatoshi nodded. "That's right. She is the one."

Shouyou whistled. "Man...I still remember watching her in action. Her reflexes were crazy."

Satori nodded, saying enthusiastically, "Right! Right!"

"How does that tie in with me living close to Tohoku Uni though?", asked Shouyou.

"Well...we need a place to stay", replied Wakatoshi.

Shouyou's face cleared up. "Ah, I see. Okay, I'll put you on to my mother to reserve some rooms for you in the guesthouse."

Wakatoshi's brow furrowed in confusion. "Guesthouse? Rooms?"

"Eh!? Didn't you want to live in the guesthouse we own? Isn't that why you were asking?" It was Shouyou's turn to look confused.

"Chibi-chan...Does your family own a guesthouse for students?", asked Satori.

Shouyou nodded. "Yeah, there's like eight two-bedroom apartments. Large enough for students, and cheap enough for them to share. It's run by our nanny from when Natsu and I were kids. Mum works in the university too, and gives rides in case the students are going there the same time as her. It's pretty convenient. Isn't that why you asked, though?"

"Your mum works at the university?", asked Wakatoshi.

"Yeah, she's a professor. Teaches Economics", replied Shouyou.

"Wait. Economics is one of my majors!", exclaimed Satori.

Shouyou's face lit up. "Ooh! Then, you might know about her. Or meet her in class and stuff! She's quite famous in academic circles from what I gather. Also, I believe she's like one of the deans or something."

Satori put his hand on his chin. "Hmm...small world, eh? And you guys own a guesthouse for students?"

"Yes, it adjoins our own house, so we're pretty strict about who we let in. But I can put in a good word for you guys. Wasn't that what you guys were asking for, though?"

"Actually, we were looking for some help looking at places and stuff, since you're a local. A guide to show us good locations and the like. We didn't know about your guesthouse", said Wakatoshi.

"Ahh...I see. Well, I can be your guide as well, if you want. Are you sure you don't want to look at the guesthouse? We even have a volleyball court."

"No no. If you have a place that's convenient already, then we would definitely be interested in looking at it. Only if it's okay, of course", said Satori.

"Alright! I'll give you my number and I'll fix it up with my mum and Emi-san!"

"Emi-san?", asked Wakatoshi.

"Ah yeah. She's the former nanny. The one whom I said runs the place", clarified Shouyou.

"How big is your house exactly? You have enough space to put in a volleyball court?", enquired Wakatoshi.

"Pretty big, I guess? It's an outdoor court, but there's a lot of space around."

Wakatoshi nodded. "Sounds good. I look forward to it."

-0-

"I can't read block like Tsukishima or Kuroo or Aone. Height is so important for that. Any of those guys can be at a specific point to block much faster than me because they have that thirty centimetre headstart. I tried many ways to fight as a blocker, and I do score points, but I'm not reliable. The points I score in that fashion are through some uncommon or weird play, and are always considered something of a bonus. I thought that was the only way you could be a good blocker, but then I saw you in our match at the inter-high finals, and it was so cool! Even though you're tall enough to do read blocks, you relied on your intuition and observation to use your blocks to score points, just like an ace uses his spikes. So I want to ask you - How do you do it? What goes through your mind when you see the setter tossing and you guess where the spiker will spike so you can block it off? Is there anything in particular you look for while you're on court?", asked Shouyou, looking at Satori, eyes shining.

Satori had never actually been praised this explicitly before. His coach and teammates had always appreciated him and his contributions to the team, but never had he been called 'cool'. It made him flustered and caused a slight blush to form on his face.

Nevertheless, he thought about Shouyou's question and replied with one of his own. "Umm...Let's see. What is a block to you in volleyball terms, Chibi-chan?"

"What is a block? Something that stops the ball?", replied Shouyou, brows furrowed, sounding unsure.

"Yes, that is technically correct. But it is too simplistic a way to look at it. If you block like you really mean it, you don't just want to stop the ball. You want to change the flow of the game", put in Wakatoshi.

"Yes, Wakatoshi-kun has it right. As a blocker, you want to put pressure on the opposition, especially their setter and spikers. You want to force them into making errors by not allowing them to get into their rhythm, making them unsure, and shutting down their ability to make plays freely. The most basic thing you can do is a commit block. There, you simply mark one player and try to cramp them. The only problem with that is - if you are beaten in the mid-air battles, you will be useless. Even otherwise, it does not matter much how strong you are at them, because a smart setter or spiker will always find ways around the commit block. It is a low percentage play, especially against good opponents. As a read-blocker, something like the Glasses-chan on your team, you coordinate with one or two other people. You seek to pressurize the opposition in small increments. The aim there is to make sure that the opposition team do not score a point easily. A one-touch into a chance ball, or even a forced trajectory into a receive by the best defensive players, and at times, you can even manage a shut-out. It is a high percentage play that suits players who rely on their understanding and game sense more than anything else."

"It suits Tsukishima-san", said Shouyou, nodding. "But, I don't think I can do that sort of thing easily."

"You should not try to", stated Wakatoshi.

Shouyou looked at him, curious frown on his face. He could not feel any sort of mocking intent in that statement, but he did not know how to interpret it.

Satori noticed it and put in, "What Wakatoshi-kun means, and wasn't able to convey properly is this - even if you were to improve your game sense and understanding, both of which you definitely need to improve to evolve, you would not find it easy to specialize in read-blocking. You lack the height required. Think of all the good read-blockers you know. Date Tech, for example. They have the whole 'Iron Wall' legend surrounding them. They specialize in using an exceptional defence to score points. But, all their main blockers are around or over one hundred and ninety centimeters tall. Also, read-blocking doesn't suit your greatest strength - your athleticism."

"I realize that I may have not said it correctly, but Satori covered what I was going for", said Wakatoshi, looking evenly at Shouyou.

"Yeah, I realized that. And I agree. I can't hope to be part of an Iron Wall. I've fought Aone-san and Futakuchi-san and I've seen Koganegawa-kun up close at the training camp. But...I still want to be able to fight. Even if I could get to half of your level, I would be able to contribute more", replied Shouyou, taking a deep breath.

"You probably underestimate your own ability. I think you can go beyond. You don't need to be part of an Iron Wall with your level of attacking power and intuition. But, you need to train it so it has more dimensions than just your current low-percentage commit blocking. You possess exceptional reflexes and speed, and you rely on flashes of insight to make the occasional next-level block play. Imagine if you pair that up with a better game sense, derived out of observing the opposition players' patterns, tendencies, habits, and inferring their play before they even make it. I'm envious of your physical ability, because it means you don't need to make a decision as fast as I need to. I can jump to a point faster than you, because of my height advantage, but even so, I believe you will still be able to get that extra split second to decide your course of action. Also, know this - it is extremely difficult for a spiker to deal with a block which is out of their field of view when starting their spiking action. You have real potential to be a blocking monster if you went about using a similar type of technique to mine. I did it because I wanted to play volleyball that made me feel good. You may end up doing it because you want to be stronger."

"Yeah...So I should start by looking at the specific movements of each player?"

"Start with the setter. The toss comes from them. Look at their form, which leg goes where, how their hands are positioned for a specific type of toss. If you gain enough of an understanding of their habits, you can guess the right way most times. Then, comes the spiker. Each spiker has different attributes, but at a basic level, they'll always look for free space to direct the ball. So, you make sure to put your hand right where the ball would go if they hit it in the logical direction considering the free space available to them. Most spikers can be stopped successfully with that. Some spikers, of course, need more thought to combat. People like Wakatoshi-kun here, who's a monster ace, or smart spikers like the ones Seijoh seems to produce every year, or even you, who's just too damn unpredictable with those random instinctual plays that somehow work out. You will need to develop your own techniques to be successful at it, and it will need a lot of practice. But, getting the basic thought process down is the first step."

"I see", said Shouyou, nodding. He was quiet for a while, seemingly deep in thought.

The three of them continued eating their ramen.

Eventually, Wakatoshi broke the silence after finishing his meal, enquiring curiously, "What are you thinking about?"

Shouyou had the sense to swallow the mouthful of noodle he'd just taken in, before replying, "I was thinking back to how the setters moved in the matches I played. And I feel like I understand what Satori-san is saying. For example, the Shiratorizawa setter always put his right foot behind his left when he tossed to the right, and vice-versa. When he tossed for quicks, I believe he used to jump slightly faster. The Grand King of Seijoh, on the other hand, obviously tried to put lesser pressure on his right knee, always jumping dominantly off his left foot for a normal toss. For a quick toss, I think he did it together. From there, I think the direction and type of toss could be determined. I don't know if I'm right or if I'm just imagining it, so I'll need to actually do it to..."

"You're right", cut in Satori, looking at Shouyou, eyes wide with surprise, shining with some unknown emotion...was it awe?

He let out a wry chuckle. Wakatoshi had his left eyebrow raised in question, and Shouyou was looking at him curiously.

"Those are literally the first things I noticed about Ken-chan and Oikawa-kun. You're on the right track", he said, by way of explanation.

Shouyou turned back to look at his ramen. "Hehe...I feel like I notice a lot of these things but I'm too stupid to act on them. It's kinda sad, I guess."

He seemed suddenly downcast. Wakatoshi looked unsure about what to do, so he glanced over at Satori. Satori nodded.

"Tell me something, Shou-chan. How long have you played volleyball? And I mean, seriously training with a team. Not just as a special interest."

"In junior high, my school didn't have a club. I trained with random groups of people - my friends on the other clubs, some ladies' neighbourhood associations, the girls' team...stuff like that. I took every chance I could get to play and spike. But, I guess only my time with Karasuno would count as 'serious training'. That would make it about eight months, give or take."

"Eight months makes you a baby in volleyball terms. Your basics aren't at a high enough level, as a result. Things like serving and receiving can only be improved via practice. You also need to learn some setting, so you can create a chance with a ball you can't spike. Give it more time."

"I've been playing for Shiratorizawa, training constantly for almost six years. I've gone to national-level competitions on ten occasions since junior high, and I've even seen some international competition", put in Wakatoshi.

"And I've been on a proper team for about the same time, three years of which were at Shiratorizawa. I'm not as storied as Wakatoshi-kun here, because my role was always to be a part of the team supporting him. But, I have competed on the national stage five times. Even if I'm not as talented as you are, I'll still probably be a more well-rounded player than you simply because of the amount of time I've been drilled."

"I know. I understand. Kageyama-san is always going to be ahead of me, unless I work my ass off to catch up to him. But, I can't consider all that I did before a waste." Shouyou sounded close to tears.

"It wasn't a waste. Nothing ever is", said Satori, soothingly.

"I agree. Your lack of conventional training may have caused you to be an unskilled volleyball player at the current moment, but it did cause you to train your other abilities to an exceptional level. Your stamina, speed, jumping reach, and the determination you have to always spike the ball, no matter the toss...All these things contribute to your playmaking skill. Your unpredictability is your strength. Develop it further, and get your basics upto snuff, and you will surpass the 'Little Giant' you so admire", stated Wakatoshi.

That calmed Shouyou down somewhat. Whenever Wakatoshi Ushijima said something, it was only ever the truth, after all.

-0-


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouyou and Natsu meet their new step-brother.

-My step brother is...the Great King?!-

"In a landmark decision, the Diet has passed the legislation allowing same-sex marriage into law..."

Rin and Rie did not hear the rest of the news report over their excitement. Both women shouted and whooped loudly, hugging each other and crying happy tears.

Eventually, they calmed down. Rie seemed to remember something and said, "Just wait a moment, all right...I need to get something." Rin nodded. She was curious, but her feeling of elation at the news took precedence. She could marry the love of her life, and not hide any more. Nearly three decades after she'd realized that she was in love, and that Rie was in love with her, she could finally have the happy life that society had seemed bent on thwarting at every step.

She had been twelve when she had first realized. Rie was two months her junior. They had been joined at the hip since their early childhood, and ended up becoming so much more than just 'best friends' or 'lovers' after giving in to their feelings. Seven years of bliss. It was almost like some romantic fairytale.

Life was never that easy, however. And as in any other romantic drama, disaster had struck. Rie's parents, traditionalists that they were, were forcing their daughter into a loveless marriage with a man more than twice her age. Rie had fought. Rin had fought with her. They had planned to elope. But, their planning had not been clever enough. They had been caught, and separated. Both sets of parents were in on it. They were forced to go their separate ways, to different universities, and different states. Forced to disconnect, carefully monitored so that they didn't 'stray'. Rie had never been as strong or as rebellious as Rin. She just seemed to accept her fate, after a point. Just thinking about it made Rin so angry! How did it matter whom someone fell in love with. They had never hurt anyone because of their love! That was when Rin had decided to estrange herself from her parents as soon as she could.

They had no contact after that for close to twenty years.

During university, Rin made a new best friend. A boy, named Takeru Kuroo. They became close because Rin had realized that he was gay when he tried to ask her out and kiss her once. Rin had allowed it, because she had to know for sure that she could not be attracted to boys. She was going through a period of doubt about her own sexuality. Kissing Takeru...had been really really weird. And Takeru had seemed even more uncomfortable than she'd felt. And then, she had found out that his story was very similar to hers. Parents trying to keep him apart from his boyfriend, unable to accept his sexuality. His 'life choices', they had called it. What did they know? You could not help whom you were attracted to or loved, for crying out loud! How could people and society be so fucking blind!?

She had dated many girls during her time in university, but could never find love again. After a point, she had to accept it. Accept that nobody could ever replace Rie, and accept that she was mentally incapable of loving anyone else. She loved Takeru as a brother, though. They even posed as each other's partners whenever their stodgy parents happened to ask after their love life. Takeru was going through the same thing as her. He could not love anyone as much as he loved his former boyfriend. His name was Manabu.

They moved in together after university, because it was convenient. They were both starting out at the same hospital, Rin as a surgeon, and Takeru as a gynaecologist.

Takeru had the same issues as her, when it came to dating people. He was incapable of loving anyone. He could not move on from Manabu, just as she could not move on from Rie. One night, they got too drunk for their own good, and ended up sleeping with each other. That led to the birth of her son. They had not married because they could never love each other romantically, but they had remained close friends (after working through their initial anger at each other over the whole 'who took advantage of whom' thing). He had been supportive of her decision to keep the baby, probably understanding that she needed something to focus her energies on. It was a boy, and he saved her life in many ways.

Takeru helped whenever he could, taking care of the boy, taking him off her hands when she was too busy. He was very supportive of her as a single mother, and played the doting father while not interfering too much with how she was raising their child (though it was much more hers than his). Why would he, when he could see what an amazing mother Rin was, and what an amazing boy his son was! Even when he had to move to Tokyo to take on an assignment to move up in his career, he made sure to keep up with his best friend and his son, helping out and supporting them from the background whenever it was needed.

So, it was unfair to say that she had had no happiness at all over the past two decades. Her son, despite being born of a sort-of regrettable one-night stand, had given her so much happiness. However, nothing could compare to the joy she felt at reconnecting with Rie three years earlier, after over nineteen years of separation. They were both older, wiser individuals. And also much more mature than they had been, being nearly forty, and single mothers to at least one child close to going to university. That did not matter, however, to a connection as deep as the one they had forged.

Rie's husband had been a decent man, and as she had later found, was also non-heterosexual, just like her. They bonded over that, more than anything else. Rie could never love anyone apart from Rin (who was a woman), while her husband, Shin, was an aromantic asexual, and hence could never attach any passion to his feelings toward someone else. He had been forced into the marriage by his parents, who refused to accept his distaste for intimacy, and who put their worry that their forty two year old son could not produce grandchildren for them any more, over his own happiness. It was hard at first, but both of them were smart individuals. They managed to bond over their shared anger at their similar situations, and decided to make the most of their circumstances. Eventually, they became extremely good friends, with Shin promising to step aside if Rie ever found Rin again, after she had told him her story, one stormy night after Shin had found his wife drinking herself to the point of passing out. Since they both liked children, and Rie could not think of anyone else whose child she would rather have, she had a son about three years after they had been married. Another six years on, she had a daughter.

Rie, Shin and their children lived as a happy household in their spacious ancestral house (Shin's parents had passed away and left it to them) at the foot of the mountains near Sendai. Both Rie and Shin had rewarding jobs, Rie as a professor of economics at Tohoku University, and Shin as the managing director of Sony Corp's operations in Miyagi. For the next twelve years, they lived a comfortable, peaceful life, watching their kids grow up, before Shin suddenly had a heart attack and passed away. They never had any trouble with money, as Shin left them a reasonable fortune, and Rie's job paid her well enough.

Eventually, about three years prior to the present time, Rie and Rin found themselves looking at the love of their respective lives less than ten yards away. The fated meeting happened when they had both been dragged by their respective children (Rin, by her son and his suspiciously close friend, in the last year of his middle school, and Rie, by her son, in his first year of middle school, with support from her daughter, someone who tended to lend her voice to her brother's demands as a matter of course) to a high school volleyball game. It had been between Aoba Johsai High and Karasuno High. They saw each other, and despite all the years since their previous meeting, they recognized each other instantly.

After an eternity where the both of them had been paralyzed by indecision, Rie had been the first to walk up to Rin. She wordlessly handed the other woman a piece of paper with her phone number on it.

She turned around to walk back, but before that, she met Rin's eyes and forced out, "I was the one who stopped fighting first all those years ago. I felt a bit like I was betraying you, while convincing myself that things were for the best... So, I had to keep the promise I'd made back then, and make the first move if I ever saw you again...I hope there's still a chance for us, despite everything." She smiled wanly, before continuing to walk away.

Rin had been too surprised to reply immediately, but when she came to her senses, she yelled back, "Expect a call, Ri-ri!", referencing the pet name she had used for Rie during their childhood. Rie stopped suddenly. Rin could see her shoulders stiffening as she turned back, glaring at her. It was exactly like it had been over three decades ago when Rin had started calling her that. Rin stifled a giggle behind her hand. Rie simply shook her head, then let out a deep breath, and gave Rin a bright smile and a thumbs-up before walking away for real this time.

They had their 'First Date: Round Two' the following weekend. It was like they had never parted.

Their children found out soon enough. Single parents tended to be closer to their offspring, and that made hiding things from them difficult. What surprised Rie and Rin the most was how easy it was to tell them. What surprised them even more was that both sets of children had also said something similar to their respective mother's lover.

Rie's son and daughter told Rin that they recognized her from pictures their father had shown them. They knew of her, and they knew how much their mother cared about her. All they wanted her to do was to promise that she would not hurt their mother. Rin's son demanded something similar of Rie, and was equally understanding. Funnily enough, it had been Takeru who had shown him pictures of Rie and told him about her. Their parents could never accept their love, and did everything in their power to keep them apart, but the father of their children had always supported them, preparing their children well in advance, almost like they knew the two women would meet again. Maybe, it was fate's way of making it up to them.

Presently, Rie came back to the living room. They happened to be at her house for movie night this time around, and it played into her hands very well. She looked at Rin, who smiled at her tentatively, then took a deep breath and got down on her left knee. She produced a box that could only hold a ring.

The cogs in Rin's mind went into overdrive. Her mouth went wide open in surprise.

Rie noticed that and chuckled lightly. "Gonna catch flies, Rin-chan", she said, in voice much higher pitched than normal. She was obviously extremely nervous. She took another deep breath and opened the box. It contained two matching rings, golden with matching lapis lazuli gemstones.

"I saw these at a jewelry shop when I was on a conference in Vienna...They are supposed to represent truth...And I thought that if I ever got a chance like this one, I wanted them to symbolize my truth. Whatever twists and turns my life has taken, and whatever fortune or misfortune has befallen me, one thing always remained constant. That I will never ever love anyone apart from you...Now that I have a chance, I have to ask you before I lose my nerve...Will you marry me, Rin?"

Rin was crying, big fat happy tears streaming down her face. Rie chuckled weakly. "Ah...you're crying. I didn't mean..."

Rin interrupted her, saying, "Yes...and you're crying too." She went down to Rie's level and hugged her lover.

"A thousand times, yes. And I should correct your previous statement. It is not just your truth. It is mine, as well. We...We never had the support we needed from society and family earlier, but I never stopped hoping. I could never stop loving you. There was no one else I could ever feel that way about...So yes, I will marry you."

"I'm glad."

They looked at each other for a time.

"Gonna put it on my finger?", asked Rin, teasingly.

"Oh yes...yes, of course", replied Rie, flustered. She took one ring out of the box and put it on Rin's right index finger.

Rin laughed lightly, taking the other one and putting it on Rie's left index finger. Then, they kissed each other soundly, before making themselves comfortable at the foot of the sofa. They sat in that position in silence, for a while.

Eventually, Rin said, "You know, I always thought I'd be the one to propose to you."

Rie chuckled. "You were always the braver one...you fought more for us to stay together back then...So, I just felt like I wanted to be the one to take the initiative this time. I actually got these about six months after we started going out the second time. It just resonated, almost like it was calling out to me, you know. If this hadn't happened here, I would have maybe suggested that we move abroad somewhere it was legal for us to marry after our kids had all settled down."

Rin nodded. "Yeah...I'd be lying if I said that didn't cross my mind either. And I'd also be lying if I said that I wasn't on the lookout for a ring for you. Just never found the right one..."

"It worked out in the end, though", said Rie, smiling. Rin nodded in agreement. They settled into a companionable silence.

"We'll have to tell the kids", said Rin, presently.

"Yeah, but I don't feel like it'll be a big problem", said Rie.

"It won't...also, we should think about who moves where and how we'll get to work and the kids will get to school or university and..."

"Rin...calm down. Breathe, honey."

Rie squeezed Rin's hand. Rin nodded. "Sorry", she stated.

Rie laughed. "Don't be. Here, why don't you lie down on my lap?" She repositioined Rin so that her head rested on her lap and started playing with her hair. She loved Rin's hair. It was soft and straight and much easier to handle than her curly, thick mop. She kept her strikingly orange hair short because it was so unruly and difficult to maintain. Rin could keep her soft brown hair long, though she did make sure to take good care of it.

"It's almost like you put me on your lap just to play with my hair", commented Rin, chuckling.

"So what if I did? Your hair's so nice and soft. Wish mine was like that."

Rin reached out to twirl some of Rie's orange locks between her fingers.

"Yours is fluffy and feels fuzzy when I massage it. I like yours just the way it is!"

Rie laughed. "You're such a sweet-talker."

"You know it!"

They both laughed, and just basked in each other's presence for a while.

Eventually, Rie said, "I think this house is big enough for everyone? And the location feels like it would suit everyone okay? What do you think?"

Rin chewed her bottom lip as she thought about Rie's proposal. "My current place is certainly too small for everyone to stay in, since it was always just an adult and a kid living there. So, that's definitely not an option. In terms of location, the hospital is about equidistant from both my current apartment and here. Plus, both your angels are close enough to school that they can go on their own in normal course, and it is close enough to the Tohoku University that my twerp and his best friend can go there easily enough. In case they want to live slightly apart from us because they feel they're too old, we can always put them up in that guesthouse you own."

"Ooh...so he's attending Tohoku?" Rin nodded, and Rie whistled.

"That's so cool! He really is smart. Wish mine was as serious about his studies!"

Rin chuckled. "You worry too much, Ri-ri...but yes, I think your place will do well!"

"I'm glad you think so. Now...all that remains is..."

"To tell the kids."

-0-

Rie had always been a good cook, and considering that all their children were meeting for the first time, she went all out. She enlisted Rin's help, of course. Cooking for six people wasn't easy (Rie, Rin, Rie's son and daughter, Rin's son and not-boyfriend), and there was no way she was going to entrust that to Rin. It was not surprising in the least to Rie that Rin's son had taken on most of the cooking duties in their household. Rin's incompetence in the kitchen extended to getting even the simplest preparations (such as miso soup) wrong.

It took a while but Rie was able to finish all her preparations with some time to spare before her children got home (her son had gone to volleyball practice, and she'd gotten him to take his little sister with him as well). Rin's son and not-boyfriend were supposed to arrive there slightly later.

"All right. Going to take a shower to cool off", announced Rie.

"Cool", said Rin, following her without thinking. She looked somewhat tired. Rie had not been an easy chef to work under. Her normally gentle manner fell away completely when it came to preparing ingredients or cutting vegetables. The smallest deviation from her instructions had earned Rin a scolding.

"You joining me?", asked Rie, eyebrow quirking up, playful smirk on her lips.

"Eh...oh", replied Rin, blushing furiously. She looked down at the ground.

Rie seemed to realize that Rin was uncomfortable for some reason.

"What's up?", she asked, playful smirk replaced by a look of concern.

"Umm...it's just that I've seen you being so serious and assertive about very few things. Back when we were kids, it was when you were teaching me calculus or english. I had just forgotten how it was...how it felt..."

Rie's face cleared. "Ahh...I'm sorry?"

Rin shook her head. "No, don't be. It just took me by surprise, is all."

"I wanted to make it perfect, you know. It's the first time all of us are meeting. And we will be living together soon."

"I get that. I wasn't complaining. I just felt kinda nervous when you snapped at me...I realize that it'll happen a lot more now, so I just need to get used to dealing with it, I guess."

"Well...I still think it's funny how bad you are in the kitchen."

Rie chuckled as Rin wailed out, "Ri-riiiiii!"

Rie hugged the bigger woman to herself and made her bend over so that she could kiss her forehead.

"Stop being a baby, now. Do you want to join me in the shower?"

Rin looked at her happily and nodded.

The shower took longer than expected, and left both women more hot and bothered than cooled off.

-0-

"This is the house", said Oikawa, confidently.

"Are you sure, Shittykawa?", asked his long-suffering not-boyfriend, Iwaizumi. Oikawa's confidence did nothing to assuage his suspicion.

"If we go to the wrong place and you chat up the lady or guy who opens it again, I swear I'll attach a heavy anchor to your foot and throw you into the lake."

"You don't really mean that, Iwa-chan!", said Oikawa, laughing nervously.

Iwaizumi glared at him. "I don't think you want to try me, Trashykawa", he replied, in a low voice dripping with menace.

Oikawa's eyes went wide and round, and he furiously checked and re-checked the house number.

"I'm sure it's this one", he declared, at length.

Iwaizumi let out a deep breath and examined the house they had stopped at. Eventually, he said, "Alright, then. There's a hill nearby and it is the last house in the street. It looks big enough to house all of us and even has a side building that looks like the guesthouse mum mentioned, so it ticks all the boxes...You may actually be right."

"Yeah", said Oikawa, in a happier tone. He looked around, and commented thoughtfully, "I wonder...Karasuno High should be around here, right?"

Iwaizumi frowned, thrown off by the seemingly random question. He flipped out his smartphone and checked. "Not what I'd call around here, but yes, it should be over the other side of this hill and some distance beyond that. A twenty minute bus ride...why the sudden question, though?"

Oikawa laughed lightly, brushing it off with a "Nothing, just a random stray thought. Think nothing of it." Internally, he could not get what Tobio had told him once out of his mind for some reason. "Hinata has such crazy physical ability because he bikes up a mountain to and from school everyday", he'd said.

They went inside the house compound, walked up to the entrance and pressed the doorbell.

Eventually, they heard footsteps, and a muffled voice calling out "Coming!", before the door opened up to reveal a little girl with messy orange hair. Her brown eyes took in the two boys standing at the doorstep and went round with surprise.

"So big", she commented.

Oikawa was immediately struck by how orange the girl's hair was, convinced he had seen something similar somewhere.

Meanwhile, Iwaizumi bent down to the girl's level, aware of the fact that Oikawa wasn't too comfortable around children. "Yo", he greeted.

"Yo", echoed the girl right back at him.

"Is this Rie-san's house?", asked Iwaizumi.

The girl thought for a moment. "Oh...Rie is mom's name. So yes, I think?", she replied, still looking at Iwaizumi curiously.

"Natsu-chan, who is at the door? Is it Haji and Tooru?", asked another voice getting closer to the doorstep. A woman appeared behind the little girl. She was very attrative, athletically built, of average height for a Japanese female, with hair a similar shade of orange as the girl, worn short in what Iwaizumi believed was called a 'bob cut'.

"Hello, Rie-san! Looks like we're third time lucky in finding the house!", said Iwaizumi, smiling at the newcomer.

Rie's face fell slightly. "You went to two other houses before you could find this one? Oh no! I'm so sorry...if you'd called from the train station, I could have come over to pick you up or something..."

Iwaizumi waved away her concerns. "It was no trouble...in fact, I'd blame this one's navigation skills more than anything else", he said, pointing a thumb at Oikawa.

"Don't be mean, Iwa-chan", whined Tooru.

Rie looked at Oikawa and said, "I don't believe we've met, but I've heard about you, Tooru-kun. Nice to meet you! And welcome to our home! I'm Rie, by the way."

Oikawa smiled winningly at Rie and replied, "The pleasure's all mine, Rie-san. The house looks really big from the outside!"

Rie nodded. "Yes, it is. Bit of a pain to keep tidy, but I've been living here for almost...twenty years now."

Suddenly realizing that Oikawa and Iwaizumi were still standing outside in the cold, she said, "Well, come on in before you freeze outside!"

"Pardon the intrusion", chorused the two boys as they made their way into the house.

-0-

Hajime's help had been enlisted by Rie to complete the preparations for their dessert (an extremely tasty looking tiramisu), since Rin had spent enough time in the kitchen with Rie to last her a year, and he could surprisingly hold his own in there.

Rin volunteered to show Oikawa around the house with Natsu. Just as they were about to start the tour, the doorbell rang again.

Oikawa looked to the entrance of the house asking, "Are we expecting anyone else, Rin-san?"

"Yes, that'll be Rie-chan's son. He ran late at volleyball practice", replied Rin.

"I'll get it...and volleyball?", asked Oikawa as he started walking towards the door.

"Yeah...he plays for Karasuno High, I believe", said Rin, following him.

"Karasuno, hmm...", said Oikawa, as he opened the door to reveal...Chibi-chan!?

He pointed at Shouyou and gasped out, "Shrimpy?"

Shouyou reacted almost as fast, jumping back and putting his forearms in front of his body in what he imagined was a fighting pose. "Grand King-sama?", he asked, surprised.

Rin looked on at the scene, confused. "Shrimpy? Grand King?", she asked, puzzled.

Shouyou saw her and Natsu behind Oikawa and immediately bowed. "Hello, Rin-san. Sorry I'm late."

Rin waved it away with a "Think nothing of it."

Shouyou then turned back to Oikawa, saying nervously, "It'll take me a while to get used to you as my older brother, but I'll do my best. Please take care of me!", before bowing.

Oikawa looked at Hinata, mouth hanging open. "Eh?", he managed.

Shouyou glanced at him and mistook his expression for anger.

"I know we were enemies during the Inter High, but you can't hate me that much right? I promise I'll do whatever it takes to get you to like me. Since my mum likes your mum so much, we have to get along!"

Oikawa shook his head, and decided to go with asking Shouyou, "What do you mean 'older brother'?"

It was Hinata's turn to look confused. "Well, my mum and your mum are getting married, right? We'll be living in the same house, right?"

Oikawa looked at Hinata like he'd grown several new heads. Rin suddenly picked up on the source of the confusion and laughed out loud.

Hinata and Oikawa looked at her curiously. "Sorry...sorry...I'm sorry...Shou-chan, Tooru-kun isn't my son. Haji is inside, helping Rie-chan out."

"Oh...I see. Haji?", asked Shouyou, uncertainly.

Rin nodded. "Short for Hajime."

"Hajime", said Shouyou, thoughtfully. The name seemed familiar.

"Well, don't stand out there freezing. Come in!", said Rin.

"Ah. Ossu!", said Shouyou as he ran into the house after leaving his shoes. Natsu ran after him, yelling "Onii-chan! Wait up!", with Rin and Tooru following in her wake.

Shouyou went into the kitchen and sprang back once he saw Iwaizumi. He held his arm up in what he imagined was a fighting pose.

"Seijoh's ace-san!"

Hajime's eyebrow quirked up in surprise. "Karasuno's Chibi-chan?", he asked.

Rie looked over to see what the fuss was about and seeing her son there, called out, "Welcome home, Shouyou!", cheerily.

"You're Rie-san's son?", asked Iwaizumi, of Shouyou.

Shouyou gulped and nodded.

"Ah. I see." Iwaizumi looked thoughtful.

Shouyou finally seemed to put two-and-two together, as he exclaimed, "You're Rin-san's son!", pointing at Iwaizumi.

"Guilty as charged." Iwaizumi gave him a tentative smile, and Shouyou relaxed.

"Hmm...you should smile more!", he told Iwaizumi, seriously.

Iwaizumi blushed a little. "I'll take it under consideration."

Hinata nodded. "So, that means we'll be brothers...Oh!"

Suddenly, Shouyou bowed deeply, saying, "I'll be in your care from now on, Seijoh's ace onii-chan!"

Iwaizumi bowed back awkwardly, saying, "It's Hajime. And thank you for having me, Chibi-chan."

"Hajime...Hajime...Haji...Haji-onii-chan. Haji-onii-chan." Apparently deciding on the best sounding form of address, Shouyou replied, "Haji-onii-chan! And it's Shouyou."

Hajime nodded. "Shouyou. All right, Shou-chan..."

Natsu piped up suddenly. "Haji-onii-chan! He's Haji-onii-chan?", looking at Iwaizumi with wide eyes.

Hajime bowed to her as well. "Thank you as well, Natsu-chan."

"Oh! You're welcome!", said Natsu, trying to sound as formal as she could, bowing cutely to match Hajime.

Hinata clapped his hands. "All right! Tobio said you were a nice senpai to him. Good thing we get you!", he said, happily.

Oikawa, who had been watching this scene, asked, "What is this!? How come Iwa-chan gets such a nice reception while I get doubt?", somewhat nettled.

"Because of your personality, idiot", said Hajime, before turning to Shouyou, saying, "I assume it must have been a shock to see first Stupidkawa, then me...Sorry about that."

"It's all good!", replied Shouyou, giving Hajime a thumbs-up. Then, he thought for a while. "Hey, if we're free for a while, maybe we can play some volleyball?"

Shouyou looked at Tooru and Hajime in turn hopefully.

Hajime looked to Rie, and Rie gave him a thumbs-up, saying, "I can take care of it from here...go check out the backyard...and thanks for your help, Hajime!"

"Ossu!", said Shouyou, as he motioned for the former Seijoh players to follow him. Hajime went after him and Tooru gave a dramatic sigh, as if he meant to say, "If I must!", before following Hajime. Natsu went after Tooru, realizing that all the people closest to her age group were going off somewhere.

Rin looked at them filing out, and turned to Rie, smiling brightly. She simply said, "I think we'll be fine."

-0-

Tooru gave the serve his all, fully expecting Shouyou not to return it. He served it right into the corner of the court. A second later, he stared in disbelief as Shouyou scooped it up with an underhand receive. Natsu clapped and cheered her older brother on.

That was the fourth one in a row he'd picked up, though Tooru probably hadn't given all the previous ones his full power, instead choosing to place it. Even Hajime had given him five of his jump serves, and Shouyou had managed to receive all of them too. He was still unable to fully control where he sent the receive, and took body shots at times, but for someone whose receives had, for lack of a better word, sucked, just a month or less prior, Shouyou seemed to have made leaps and bounds in developing that area in a very short time. Tooru wanted to know how.

Hajime clapped and cheered Shouyou on. "Well done, Chibi-chan! Your receiving has really improved a whole lot! I'm honestly surprised at how much you've improved since the regionals."

Shouyou blushed slightly and scratched his head, replying, "Heh heh...yeah, I was ball boy for a week at the Shiratorizawa camp. I guess I used that experience to get better. A good ball boy can predict and chase down stray balls, just like a good receiver!"

Both Tooru and Hajime looked surprised. "Ball boy? Didn't that coach invite you to it?", asked Tooru puzzled.

Shouyou's face fell slightly. "No...No, he didn't. Kageyama went to the national youth camp, of course. Tsukishima was the only one who was invited to the Shiratorizawa camp by that coach. I snuck in, though. I could not let myself get left behind. But, Washio-sensei...he told me that I wasn't good enough, that I'd never be good enough...and that I was useless without my setter. He was quite mean, come to think of it, but he did let me stay as a ball boy. So, I made the best of my situation and tried to use it to improve my game in any way I could...On the last day, I even got to play in the practice match because one of the players sprained his ankle."

"That is...very surprising. Kindaichi and Kunimi were called, but neither of them were as big a force for us as you were for Karasuno. Tobio is a genius, but you're the one who brings the full extent of his genius out of him. Sure, your basics are below average, but that's just probably because you haven't played and trained seriously for a long enough time. Those can be drilled in through experience. Your playmaking ability certainly makes up for it and more", said Tooru, thoughtfully.

"Did you piss the coach off or something?", asked Hajime.

Shouyou shrugged. "Maybe? I don't know. He was nicer to me as the camp went on, though. Both he and the Johzenji coach...Anabara-sensei, gave me a bunch of good advice. I even talked to Wakatoshi-san and Satori-san, and got their advice on receiving and blocking. It'll take some time, but I think I can stand somewhere near the level of the top players if I work at it. No, I have get there...I can't let Kageyama win!"

Tooru walked up to Shouyou and put his hands on the smaller boy's shoulders. "Chibi-chan, what have you been doing about your serve? And also, your setting? Don't you want to improve those too?", he asked him, inscrutable expression on his face. Hajime sensed that it had been caused by Shouyou mentioning his longtime rival(s).

"Definitely! I'll have to improve them for sure! Every part of my game has to become a weapon, and not remain a liability!", said Shouyou, face lighting up.

Tooru let out a chuckle as he walked a small distance away from Shouyou, before he dramatically turned back and pointed at him.

"If you want to learn how to make your serves and tosses a weapon, then I will teach you. And when you make Tobio-chan's eyes pop out at how awesome you are, tell him Tooru-sensei taught you", he proclaimed.

Shouyou jumped up and down, barely able to contain his excitement. "Seriously, you'll teach me? Thanks so much, Grand King-sama!"

Hajime looked in surprise at his best friend. Tooru never ever helped people he considered geniuses or demons. Shouyou was someone they definitely considered to be among the top players in high school, even though he was far removed from his true potential. But, he was just in his first year. He was a work in progress, an unpolished diamond, but it was scary how quickly he grew, and how much more he could grow.

At the very least, Tooru Oikawa never offered help of own volition. He always wanted something in return. But in this case, he seemed to be volunteering it freely.

"Oi, Shittykawa. You feeling all right? Did you actually just offer help?", asked Hajime, very obviously concerned.

Tooru pouted at him. "Iwa-chan! Don't be mean to me in front of the shrimpy. I'm a nice person! I want him to look up to me!", he whined.

"But, I already look up to you. Why do you think I started calling you the Grand King? Your skills are awesome! And, I can sense that you aren't the nicest person, but that's just because you're extremely competitive. To an extent, I can understand, though. It is frustrating to lose, but it's even worse to not learn from those losses", put in Shouyou.

Tooru turned to the orangehead, somewhat confused. "Eh?", he managed out. He was not sure what surprised him more - the fact that Shouyou had been so insightful, or the fact that he was so admired.

Shouyou nodded. "Yeah, we all admire you and your team! We considered Seijoh the 'most complete' team in the prefecture. And, it's true. Hajime-san and you were the players we knew we couldn't allow to play freely in our game against you guys. We prepared specific rotations against both your serves and always stayed in formation specifically to 'one-touch' the ace's spikes. Kinda like how we setup for Wakatoshi-san in the Shiratorizawa game. Plus, you're one of the only people Tobio...that is, Kageyama-kun looks up to, so I'd be seriously lucky to learn from you", he said, eyes bright.

Tooru looked at him in surprise for a moment, then looked away to hide a deep blush that was forming on his features.

Hajime snorted. This was another thing they had felt when playing Karasuno. Shouyou just seemed to lift everyone's spirits with his energy and drive and positivity. The praise he had just handed to Oikawa (and him as well, replaying it in his mind) was so sincere and earnest that you could not help but feel warm inside. Plus, his best friend was a total sucker for attention.

The two former Seijoh stars proceeded to give Shouyou some basic drills on serve toss placement and aiming the ball to specific areas of the court standing. He could not hope to do jump serves without first learning how to reliably toss and place the ball and understanding the full extent of the court area. The 'jump-and-spike' motion came after that.

Shouyou proceeded to try what he'd been told, all fired up about getting better at the sport he loved.

Tooru and Hajime stood off to the side, looking on. They had even given Natsu some basic ball control drills to try, and she was off to the other side, doing them so she 'would not lose to Shou-nii-chan!" There were early inklings of skill there, as well. Natsu Hinata was a possible future star, for sure.

"So, Trashykawa...you actually volunteered your help this time. What's your angle?", asked Hajime, frowning suspiciously at Tooru, as they watched Shouyou aim his serves at the target bottles they had setup around the court.

"Iwa-chaaaaaannnnn! Don't be mean!", whined Tooru, pouting. Hajime didn't let up his frown. He felt weirdly protective of Shouyou, now. After all, he was to be his older brother. It was totally natural!

Tooru turned thoughtful, looking at Shouyou intently.

At length, he said, "The kid loves volleyball. He has the skill for it, his potential is there for all to see, and he has this burning desire to get better and win. And, his genius isn't anything like Tobio's or Ushiwaka's. At least, not to me. It doesn't feel constricting and claustrophobic. It doesn't feel like an abyss that I can't escape from. It feels warm and gentle. Like...sunshine. I could sense that he's a spiker you want to toss to, spectating Karasuno's matches, and playing against them. But now, I can also see that he's a player you just want to root for."

-0-


	3. Chapter 3

-The other training camp-

Kiyoomi Sakusa wasn't all that impressive to Kageyama.

In his estimation, Sakusa was a spiker who seemed to be good at a lot of things, but did not have that one defining feature to make people sit up. Among the aces he knew of and had played with or against, Bokuto Koutaro of Fukurodani and Ushijima Wakatoshi of Shiratorizawa outstripped him in terms of power, Futakichi Kenji of Date Tech was better than him at blocking, and Iwaizumi Hajime of Aoba Johsai possessed a better receive and jump. He was definitely smarter than any of them, however, with a game sense that possibly rivalled Tsukishima's (as much as he could not stand the irritating bastard, Kageyama had to acknowledge that his game sense was exceptional), and that made him less predictable and more difficult to read than the other aces. He did not rely on brute force. Additionally, Kageyama had never actually met an ace who had not been driven by instinct, so that made Sakusa...unique, at the very least.

Even so, Kageyama actually played with the most unpredictable player he knew of, on a regular basis - his partner and best frenemy. The one he would help turn into a true demon of volleyball by the time he was through high school. Kageyama enjoyed his volleyball most when he made plays off instinct and took risks no other setter would ever dream of in their right mind. He was at his strongest when allowed to do that freely. He thrived on chaos.

If a volleyball team had to be compared to a musical group, Karasuno's team would be a heavy metal jam band with Kageyama as its lead guitarist. Fukurodani probably fell into that category as well, with a more flashy human highlight reel than even Hinata, in Bokuto. Nekoma and Seijoh resembled the popular rock bands of the day, with their consistent, methodical play.

In Kageyama's estimation, Sakusa's team (Itachiyama) probably resembled a boring orchestra. So, all in all, Sakusa really wasn't the type of player who impressed Kageyama.

It was a real puzzler. Kageyama could not sense any specific form of genius from him either. He didn't have the ability to spike with his left hand, like Ushijima Wakatoshi. He could not see the exceptional understanding to counter and mind-game opponents possessed by the likes of the Nekoma pudding-head setter, Kozume Kenma (whom Hinata got along so well with), or the defensive brilliance of Karasuno's libero, Nishinoya Yuu (though, come to think of it, that tall libero from Itachiyama, Komori Motoya, was certainly very skilled), or even the almost superhuman physical ability that Hinata possessed, in him. Following that train of thought, Kageyama decided that he would not be surprised if Komori was the backbone of the team, but chose to remain in the background, and allowed Sakusa to scoop up all the plaudits.

It wasn't unheard of. Another example that immediately sprung to mind was Akaashi Keiji, the Fukurodani setter. Akaashi was, in his opinion, more important to Fukurodani's success than Bokuto. Even if he was overly talented, he was still a hot-headed idiot. However, that last thought could just be his personal bias talking, since he occupied the same role. Also, he had to accommodate the whims of, and bring the best out of, an over-energetic idiot himself. He knew how hard it was.

When Sakusa approached him after their practice session, he said as much to him. In far fewer words, of course. He'd freely admit that it was mostly to get him to shut up after insinuating that Karasuno had not deserved their win over Shiratorizawa (he'd attributed Ushiwaka's loss to being distracted by 'dirty tricks', whatever that meant), but to him, it was the truth, and he had insulted his team (and him, by extension), so it was not totally uncalled for. There was the fact that he had messed up, but everyone made mistakes, right? Right. Definitely right.

It was possible that Sakusa was holding back for some reason unknown to him. If he was, then Kageyama respected him even less. He could not abide anyone holding back while playing volleyball, even a little. You weren't improving at the fastest possible rate if you were holding back. That was one reason he could grudgingly admit to loving to play alongside Hinata, because one would immediately call out the other if either dared not to give it their all. The one time during the training camp that Kageyama threw him the old quick toss instead of the new one, and had been found out in that split second, was testament to that.

Kageyama wished that Hinata had been invited by the coach to the national camp as well. But, he could accept that his partner was still too rough-around-the-edges and lacked the strong basics required to stand at this level. Maybe next year.

No...Kageyama would make sure of it. He would force Hinata to bring his receives, blocks and serves up to snuff. They would make their minus tempo freak quick even quicker, and work on Hinata's power and spiking technique so he could fight in mid air, and hone it into a weapon that would guarantee a point. They would build something almost unheard of in volleyball. An unblockable spike. And, he had to make it so that his partner accompanied him the next year so they could show it off. Their legend would have no choice but to keep growing.

Not that he believed he would really have to do much - that orange-head was too much of a volleyball idiot like him not to fulfill the immense potential that he had been blessed with. Kageyama had never felt the same aura or resonance with someone else. It was something he had sensed the very first time they had crossed paths, all those years ago in junior high.

But first, he had to learn as much as he could at this training camp. Before that, he had to deal with this irritating so-called 'Top 3' ace from his age group. He had been demanding specifics from him about the players who had stopped Ushiwaka, and was now being dragged away by his high school teammate (the libero, Komori), who was also apologizing to Kageyama on Sakusa's behalf for his rudeness.

He called out to their retreating backs, "Our middle blockers. My fellow first years, Tsukishima Kei and Hinata Shouyou. Don't worry though...you'll meet them soon enough." Kageyama smirked evilly, as he thought to himself. "A pickaxe and a battering ram."

Kageyama noticed Sakusa's back stiffening slightly, but neither he, nor his teammate, turned back. That suited Kageyama just fine. He was rubbed the wrong way, and the Itachiyama ace deserved it.

He let out a deep breath and took another sip of water from his bottle. Then, he felt another presence nearby. He looked to his right, and saw the short one he had noticed earlier. Well, he was not as short as Hinata, but was definitely shorter than everyone else at the camp. What was his name, again...Hoshimimi?

"Hey", he barked, and the boy jumped a little. He turned to his right, and pointed to himself.

Kageyama nodded, and asked, "Hoshimimi-san?"

The boy snorted in response. "Hoshiumi. Not Hoshimimi. It's Kourai Hoshimimi...", he said, puffing up. Then, he seemed to realize his mistake, and immediately rushed to correct himself. "Sorry...Kourai HoshiUMI. It's Kourai Hoshiumi."

Kageyama took in all this in silence. "Umm...Sorry about that...Hoshiumi-san. I'm Kageyama. Tobio Kageyama."

The boy calmed down and nodded back. "I know. I've heard of you, Kageyama-san."

"You have?", Kageyama asked, curiously.

Hoshiumi nodded. "Yes, I have. 'King of the Court' in middle school, touted as the next big star setter. You seemed to fizzle out, though, never making it to Nationals. Then, you went to some no-name high school and suddenly, they're the Miyagi representative in the spring championships. I'm guessing you had something to do with that?"

Kageyama's expression had gone from angry to scary to normal throughout the previous monologue, but the other boy didn't seem to have noticed. He took another draught of water, as if to calm himself down, before replying, "Yes, I did. Our team beat Seijoh in the semifinals and Shiratorizawa in the finals."

Hoshiumi looked at him with interest. "You said 'our team'. That seems different from what I'd heard of your middle school behavior."

Kageyama glared at him. "That was then. This is now."

Hoshiumi held his hands up peaceably. "Sorry...I wasn't trying to pick a fight or anything."

Kageyama grunted, looking away.

"You didn't seem too surprised by me, though. It was kind of unnerving...I'm used to people being all surprised about how I play because I'm short and it pisses me off, to be honest. But, a total lack of reaction makes me feel weird", said Hoshiumi, after a while.

Kageyama glanced up at him. The other boy seemed almost...peeved that Kageyama had the gall not to be surprised. He held back a sudden giggle, covering it up by coughing instead.

"It was food for thought. And it isn't something I haven't seen before", he muttered.

Hosiumi opened his eyes wider, obviously surprised. "Not something you haven't seen before?", he repeated.

Kageyama shrugged. "Remember when I tossed you some balls while we were trying quicks?"

Hoshiumi nodded, frowning in thought, as if wondering where this conversation was headed. "Yes...yes, I do. The first few were too reckless, but I could get used to them after you slowed down a bit...some were still too quick though", he replied, guardedly.

Kageyama nodded. "I tried different tempos."

Hoshiumi continued to frown. "I could recognize the first, second, and third...but once you got used to my first tempo, you still missed some...", he trailed off. Suddenly, he turned to Kageyama, eyes wide. "Those super fast tosses...those were minus tempos?"

Kageyama smirked, replying, "They were."

Hoshiumi whistled. "I've not seen those, except every once in a while during world cup matches...they're almost impossible to get down unless you practice them a whole lot."

"I know of a guy who hit it on his first attempt", said Kageyama, casually.

Hoshiumi looked at him, astonished. "Who?", he asked.

"My partner at high school."

Hoshiumi looked even more surprised. Then, he scowled, demanding, "Why isn't he here?"

Kageyama shrugged. "He's not good enough...yet."

"Yet?"

"He's smaller than you, and his basics suck...He's a work in progress, but his athleticism, speed and jump are..." Kageyama's voice trailed off. He had just realized something about Hoshiumi's jump. Hoshiumi was certainly quick and athletic, but definitely not as quick and athletic as Hinata. However, he was able to spring higher than Hinata. Kageyama had been wondering about it for some time now, and now, he was reasonably certain that he had been suddenly struck with the answer.

Hoshiumi cleared his throat. "His athleticism, speed and jump are?", he enquired.

"Top notch", whispered Kageyama, before suddenly raising his voice to ask, "Would you mind jumping for me?"

Hoshiumi started in surprise. "Jumping for you?", he repeated, obviously thinking that Kageyama was out of his mind.

"Please! Just once. As high as you can go!", pleaded Kageyama.

"Err...all right", said Hoshiumi uncertainly, before acquiescing.

Kageyama observed carefully, and clapped his hand. Hinata could definitely jump higher than Hoshiumi as well! He just had to fix his technique!

He jumped up to go find a way to demonstrate it to Hinata. Before running off, he bowed to Hoshiumi, saying "Thank you for your help, Hoshiumi-san!".

Hoshiumi looked at his retreating back, mouth open, unsure what to make of what had just transpired.

-0-

"So, Kageyama-kun...what do you think of the camp so far?", asked Daigoro Tokuyama, the assistant coach of the Japan Under-18s team, and the man who'd arranged the intensive youth training camp prior to the National Spring Championships.

"It has been good. I'm glad I came. I have learnt a lot of things I can take back with me", replied Kageyama. "And help that stupid orange-head I call my partner", he thought to himself.

"Really? I thought that you might be feeling down that no one has been able to comfortably grasp your super-fast minus tempo sets", remarked the coach.

Kageyama shrugged. "Hoshiumi-san, Chigaya-san and Miya-san can all hit sets which are faster than first tempo. None of them are as fast as my partner back at school, though. Back in junior high, everyone struggled to hit my fastest tosses, and blamed me for it. I was also at fault for not synchronizing with my spikers. It's a team game, after all. However, Shoyou...Hinata, that is, my partner - he picked up my fastest toss on the first attempt, and regularly after that. He always aimed to synchronize himself to me, as much as I did to him. It was the first time I realized it could be a two-way street - tossing and spiking. A spiker has his preferences, and so does a setter. Most times, the setter adjusts more to the spiker's preferences, but with him, I could try different types of tosses and he would hit them without fail. Every new attack we tried, it was always the both of us together. That was...liberating. When I met him, I felt like I had found the spiker I was looking for. I knew he was a unique volleyball talent, despite his weakness at the basics. Playing with all these high-level stars from around Japan, and knowing that he's still unique - it makes me somewhat happy, in a way. It means that there's a good chance that he will be here with me the next year."

"Oh...this is interesting. You seem confident about your friend. And your own ability."

"The guy has to work really hard at it, though. I will have to make sure he does. As for me...I am not going to sit around doing nothing, either."

The coach chuckled. "I saw the final match myself, you know. The one where you played against Ushijima-kun and Shiratorizawa. Your team's defence is above average, but nothing spectacular, and the general level of the serving is mediocre. But, your combination with that tiny number ten is exceptional. I saw the pretenatural coordination you two possess. Karasuno lives and dies by their attack, and Hinata is whom it is built around. I can see that he has great potential, and you two, as a duo, have a lot of room to grow. Considering how young you are, just in your first year of high school, you could easily surpass the one that Inarizaki took the Nationals by storm with - the Miya twins."

"The Miya twins? You mean the other setter, Atsumu Miya, has a twin? And he is his partner?"

"Yes, that's right. His twin is Osamu Miya. To be honest, both the Miyas are more complete players than you and Hinata. The twin was good enough to almost make it to the training camp on his own skills too. However, they are both in their second year of high school, so you and your partner have a year extra."

"Maybe I can ask our managers if they can dig up some footage of them playing..."

Tokuyama nodded. "Probably a good reference point for you. Also, you'll be able to see their team playing in person, soon enough. They are going to be at the Spring National Championships as well. In fact, they were the runner-up to Itachiyama during the Inter-High four months ago, and so are one of the favorites."

"I see...It will be interesting to see what moves they can pull off."

"Oh...In terms of the moves they have shown, I don't believe they have as much variety as your combination does. However, they have been training together longer, and that makes their overall success rate higher. But, their coordination was a hard-won thing. The coordination you show with Hinata on the other hand, is almost scarily perfect, and you've been playing together for less than a year!"

"We're still far removed from our true potential. I feel that we haven't yet considered trying a lot of new things we could be doing."

"Of course. There is a lot of room for your combination to grow. One glaringly obvious weakness of your team that I could point out, off the top of my head, is that its attack power suffers somewhat when the shrimp is on the back line. Right now, he never even tosses to you at all. I'm assuming it is because he probably is not particularly good at doing sets yet. But, just imagine if he could. You add another dimension immediately, and your options in attack don't dwindle just because of rotational positions. You could convert attack to defence, maybe even do a reverse minus tempo from certain positions with you as the spiker instead. That'll make your combination so much more scary. And that's significant, because it is scary enough as it is."

Kageyama looked at the coach in surprise. "I never thought of that before", he muttered, putting his hand on his chin, thinking.

Tokuyama patted the young setter on his shoulder, saying "Neither of you struck me as the kind of people who valued stability, so I wouldn't be surprised if you started making such plays. In any case, think carefully about it, Kageyama-kun. Discuss it with your partner when you get back...But right now, it is time to get back to the drills!"

Kageyama nodded, exclaimed "Ossu!", and ran back to continue the next round of training his group was being subjected to.

Observing the youngest player in the camp (Kageyama was the only first year there), and contemplating what he'd seen of his team's play, the coach thought to himself, "Talent coupled with the burning desire to keep improving. The sort of players who can never be satisfied with where they are, always striving to change, always thinking of new things to do - they're the most interesting to watch. Make sure to use this camp to gain new insights and ideas to work on with your partner. And maybe...just maybe, you can take the nation and even the world by storm."

-0-


End file.
